Fortune Teller's Curse: Part 2
by Teh w4nd3r3r
Summary: Will Ridge be able to settle the consequences of his rash actions? This is the sequel to my first story. Read the first story to avoid confusion.
1. Chapter 7: Different Scene

As the trio left the riverbanks, the two pokemon were outside of their poke balls. To most people, it was odd to see pokemon traveling with their trainer without being in a poke ball, so the trio got odd looks from them.

'Haven't they seen pokemon traveling with their trainers before?' Ridge wondered. 'It's not like it's anything new to them.' He suspected that he was being given odd looks because of the fact that he had two of the same pokemon. When he neared Salle's former home, he couldn't take it no more.

"Why is everybody looking at me oddly?!" he shouted, drawing even more attention than he wanted.

"You might wanna take a look at your face in the mirror to find out, bud," suggested a bystander. Wanting to get rid of the strange looks, he quickly rushed inside of the foolishly unlocked house to the bathroom. The two following Floatzels brushed him aside for the moment to look at the home.

"At least it doesn't seem like a high-class place…" Allie commented. "But it looks so big. Why's it so big?"

"I don't know. I think my mom is just a little claustrophobic. I think it's good," responded Salle. At the moment, Rachel, Salle's mom, had just walked into the main room to see the two pokemon in the room.

"Whoa…Did I leave the door unlocked again? I've really gotta stop doing that," she muttered to herself. Before she could say something else, Ridge walked in with traces of orange fur still on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me I had fur on my face?" questioned an embarrassed Ridge to Salle.

"I didn't notice it," replied Salle and Allie at the same time, who were clearly lying, hiding grins. Unfortunately, to Salle's mother, what they said sounded like parts of their species names were being said.

"Umm, Ridge, do they belong to you? Why do you have two of the same pokemon?" she asked. Then she remembered that her son was turned into a Floatzel and quickly added, "Wait a minute…Could one of them be Salle?" At the mention of his name, Salle walked up to his mother and tried to explain that he was her son, but to no avail as she couldn't understand him.

"Umm, Rachel, he was saying he's your transformed son. Don't you remember?" Ridge translated. After this, he began to leave the room, but was stopped by her voice.

"…Since when can you understand pokemon?" she asked."I think it was when I first saw Salle in his current form. I somehow got the ability to understand him when I saw him. Maybe it was a memory thing…?" Ridge replied. When she found out about this, she decided to ask Salle a few questions, using Ridge as a translator.

"Who is your friend standing next to you?"

"Her name is Allie, and I love her," Ridge translated, surprising Rachel.

"Do you two belong to Ridge?"

"He caught us, so yes, we do." was the response. She looked a bit surprised again, but she continued with one last question.

"What…are you going to do next?" She seemed a little fearful when she asked the question, since she might not see him again for quite some time, if at all.

"We're going to help get back Ridge's memory of me so we can be true friends again!" Ridge happily translated.

"…Well, I guess there's no stopping you. You're a true friend, you know that Salle?…Anyways, the three of you can stay here if you want to," she offered.

'Wow, his mom is really nice. She's just like him.' Allie thought.

The trio decided to go upstairs to think about where they should go next. It was now getting late in the afternoon, and soon it'd be dusk.

"Wow, Salle….your room is pretty wide! Why's that?' Allie asked.

"My mom likes the space. It saves her from her claustrophobia," Salle explained.

"Ahem!" Ridge cleared his throat for attention. "So you two, where do you think we should go next?" Ridge asked them.

"Solaceon Town seems like a good place to start. I need to be taken to that Ninetales, remember?" Salle suggested.

"I don't think that's a good place to start," replied Ridge. Suddenly, Salle had a sneaky idea.

"What is my mother's favorite thing to do?" he asked, catching Ridge off guard.

"Umm…is it…watching tv?" he answered unsurely.

"No it's not. Exactly why we should go to Solaceon Town first, besides, we might encounter one of the Ninetales with a fragment of your memory," Salle said.

"Or we might find trainers who want to battle us," Allie added unsurely.

"Well, it shouldn't be anything we can't handle. We'll just go there on the forest route anyway. We have each other. I'm confident we'll pull through," stated a reassuring Salle, kissing Allie in the process.

"When you put it that way,…okay, we'll go," Ridge said, once again getting tackled to the ground and licked by the two pokemon, to his slight disgust.

"Alright, alright. Get off me please," he pleaded to the two Floatzels, who promptly got off him. "Why don't we leave right now? But first, I should take you two to the Pokemon Center, since you both look like you wore yourselves out coming here," he suggested. To this both pokemon nodded.

"Hello, nurse. Would you please take care of my two pokemon? They prefer not to be in their poke balls." Ridge requested. True to his word, he did not put his pokemon in their poke balls because they hated that feeling.

"That's weird, but I'll take care of them. You can wait in the waiting room," she answered._1 hour hater…_

"I wonder why it's taking so long…" muttered a sleepy Ridge, who had shopped for food to take on the way. Finally, he heard the announcement that his pokemon were ready.

"What took so long?" he asked the nurse impatiently.

"I'm sorry, we were having a few technical difficulties and it took a while to fix them," she replied. "Oh" was his response, yet he didn't seem to believe that machines were the problem. As the trio left the center, it was beginning to get dark.

"I don't think technical difficulties were the problem there. Do you know why it took so long?" Ridge asked. Salle was about to respond when he spoke again. "Never mind. That's not important to me right now. Let's just try to get to Solaceon town quickly."

On the way, the trio defeated some of the trainers and wild pokemon that challenged them to battles. Ridge had to get used to the idea of battling but got the hang of it quickly. He was amazed at how strong Salle was and how quick Allie was. There was even a wild Floatzel that tried to take Allie away, but Salle furiously sent him flying.

'Wow…Salle and Allie together are unstoppable…' Ridge thought in awe. They had only made it one-third of the way before it got dark.

"I think we should set up camp here," Ridge suggested, the two pokemon nodding in agreement. They decided to set up near a pond. Allie had begun to get scared of the forest and held onto Salle for relief.

"Fortunately, I bought a tent while I went shopping. We can sleep in it for the night," Ridge explained. He took it out and set it up quickly enough that it only took him two minutes to set it up.

"Wow, that was quick," Allie commented.

"Well, I'm going to take a quick walk around. You two should get settled in," Ridge said, the two pokemon nodding to let him go. He needed a moment to think to himself.

'This could be a little difficult. What if I don't find the other Ninetales? Could I still get my memory back?' Ridge thought worriedly. Just then, a rock had hit him hard on the head, causing him to fall to the ground and a little blood to rush out.

'Where did that rock come from?' he wondered, dazed as he got up. But that jolt to his head caused him to have a memory of him spying on Salle's mother with Salle.

"_Hey, what's your mom doing?" Ridge asked. For his age, he was a child at heart and acted like one often._

"_Oh, she's doing her favorite thing--sewing. My mom likes to make clothes for other people or pokemon," Salle explained._

"_Well, that sounds weird to me, but if it's what she likes to do, I can't say anything," Ridge replied. But suddenly, they were caught spying by a gaze directed towards them. _

"_What are you two doing? Were you spying on me?" she asked from her chair._

"_N-no we…well, yes we were spying on you," Ridge admitted. "But you looked like you were doing something cool, and it caught my eye. I'm sorry," he added._

"_Well, it's ok as long as you don't do that again. If you want, I can show you everything I've sewn over the years," Salle's mom said, accepting the apology._

_When he was brought back to the present, he felt more confident because he knew the answer to Salle's question again. What he didn't know was the fact that the rock was thrown by one of the Ninetales that found a fragment of his memory. It was payback for the insults to its mother that it still hadn't gotten over. Ridge quickly rushed back to camp to treat his head injury._

"_Hey, Ridge. What was taking you? We were beginning to worry. And why do you have that big gash on your forehead?" Allie asked in a panic. As she was getting scared, she hugged Salle to the point of almost squeezing him, but he kissed her to calm her down._

"_I had gotten hit by some flying rock, and I remember the answer to your question now, Salle!" Ridge exclaimed. He had set up a lantern before it got too dark, which it was. "You asked me what your mom's favorite thing was, right? Well the answer was sewing!"_

_Salle began to beam. "I think one of the Ninetales threw it at you as payback, and to help you. But this means you only need to remember two more things about me before you remember me for good!" he exclaimed. "But for now, I think we should eat before we sleep."_

"_I knew someone would say that, so I brought some food just in case. But I could only buy some jerky and a bag full of Magost berries," he stated. Fortunately, it was all edible, so they ate heartily. After that, they slept using the two sleeping bags Ridge had bought. Ridge slept in his own while Salle and Allie slept in the other one, hugging each other tightly._

'_Tomorrow, I might actually remember everything…' Ridge thought._

_As he began to drift off, he encountered the same Ninetales from before._

'_What are you doing here?' he asked._

'_I see that you've found the Floatzel you need. But I am here to offer you a choice.' she responded. By the way she said that, he knew it would mean a life change. 'I know there is a way to get your memory back without having to find fragments of it along the way. But it means that you must be transformed into a pokemon to fully remember your friend right away,' she stated. 'I'll let you think about it for a moment.'_

_Ridge began to carefully consider what could happen from this. His friend had been transformed to save his life, and he would've done the same. But he wasn't ready to abandon his old life yet. Finally, he made his decision._

"_I've decided…that I'll stay human. I want to be with my friends in human form…even if it means I have control over them. I don't want to take the easy way out of getting my memories back. I'd rather search high and low for them than transform," Ridge stated then quickly added, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a pokemon, but I'd rather not be one, if you don't mind."_

"_Very well then. Your choice to stay human might make your journey a bit difficult, however. You only have to remember two things about your friend, but finding the last memory could be difficult. I don't think my child would give it to you easily," she explained, almost sadly. "Something might have to happen to you. I'm not sure what he'll do to you, but be careful. To find him, you must go to Celestic Town."_

"…_I'm willing to take that risk," he responded. "Just be careful," she responded in a worried tone. Perhaps she had become fond of his new resolve. With that, the conversation ended, returning Ridge to reality._

_The two pokemon were looking at Ridge, wondering what was taking him so long to wake up. All of a sudden, Ridge slowly woke up, as if returning to the realm of the living. At this, the two Floatzels embraced him tightly, as if they would have never seen him again._

"_Alright, alright, It's okay, I'm awake," Ridge moaned from the pressure Salle and Allie were giving him. "I appreciate this, but would you two get off of me?" he pleaded. Both pokemon obeyed willingly, not wanting to injure him any further._

'_Now I have a lot of orange and white fur all over me, oh well,' Ridge thought to himself. "Salle, I wonder if that's from your new…change."_

"_I think so. Well, where should we go next?" asked Salle._


	2. What Could Happen?

"I was thinking that we should go to Celestic Town," Ridge replied. "It came to me in a dream that one of the Ninetales that found a bit of my memory of you would be found there. Unfortunately, we have to battle it to get it back," he added sadly.

"Don't worry. Me and Salle will train hard enough so that we can beat it," Allie replied, fully determined. This caught Ridge and Salle off guard.

"Are you sure?" Salle asked, not wanting to put his love in any danger. To this Allie nodded.

"I can't stay helpless forever. I've got to learn to fight eventually. In case Salle may need some help," Allie responded. "Besides, I may learn some powerful moves like the ones Salle has."

It was now late in the morning and the group decided to make their breakfast out of the leftover jerky from last night. It was meager, so they agreed to stop at Veilstone City as they went past Lake Valor. It was a little difficult to sneak past all of the early morning trainers and Ridge ended up having to battle one of them. But to his advantage, the trainer sent out two Ponytas, which were quickly defeated by Allie's Water Gun attack.

When they reached Veilstone City, Ridge decided to go see his mom after he went shopping, buying lots of food for the road. As promised, he did not put his pokemon inside of their poke balls since it would scare Allie. When he reached his home, it was surprisingly unlocked.

'That's strange…the door is usually locked. Was I expected or something?' Ridge wondered to himself. To his surprise, his question was answered by his mother walking in with a bag full of…something.

"Oh, Ridge! Good to see you again!" greeted Helen, Ridge's mom.

"Hello mom. I decided to pay you a visit to check on you. How are you?" he asked. But she ignored his question and instead told him this. "Guess what? I found out that Salle had been transformed into a pokemon! At first, I didn't believe it, but Salle's mom sounded extremely serious. Isn't that strange?" she said. 'Why did Rachel tell my mother about this?' Ridge wondered. "I also found out the whole story as to why your friend is like this and why you forgot about him. I really hope you can make things better again," Ridge's mom added in a serious tone. "Is it true that you can understand pokemon now? And is it also true that Salle is one of the pokemon with you?" To this Ridge nodded and stated, "I have to get to Celestic Town. Since you know everything now, one of the Ninetales found a part of my memory of Salle. Can you take us there?"

"If it'll help you, then I'll be glad to help you, Ridge. You know, this version of you is a big improvement," she said with a smile. The two Floatzels nodded in agreement, making Ridge blush. When the four of them got in the van, Helen drove so fast that once she got there, the three passengers looked like their hair stood on end from the speed. It was late in the afternoon when Celestic Town was reached. Of course, Helen ended up receiving a ticket for driving so fast.

"I'm sorry for driving so fast, but I wanted this whole mess to be resolved as soon as possible. You know what I mean?" Helen said as she apologized to Ridge, Salle, and Allie. "I'll go back to Veilstone. Come back as soon as you can, Ridge, and good luck," she said as she hugged him and drove off.

"Where should we look, Ridge?" Allie asked.

"Probably the outskirts of Celestic Town. But we should start training before we face it. That way, if it comes after us for a surprise attack, we'll be strong enough to fight it," Ridge responded."That sounds like a good plan. I'm strong, but I should get stronger," agreed Salle. Finding an open area with a pond, Ridge set up some targets to be broken by the pokemon attacks.

"Alright then. When you both were in your poke balls, I found out the moves that both of you can do. Salle, you can use Sonicboom, Aqua Jet, Swift, and Brine. Destroy four of those targets to show your power," Ridge commanded seriously. The attacks pierced right through the targets, destroying them.

"Allie, I learned that your attacks are Ice Beam, Swift, Water Gun, and Double Team. An impressive moveset, but not very strong. Try combining your attacks to destroy the targets with much force," he stated.

"Alright, I'll give it a go," she replied. She first used the attacks by themselves, only to end up weakening the targets. She then combined Swift with Ice Beam, Water Gun with Double Team, and Ice Beam with Double Team. This time the attacks not only looked fancy, they were extra effective and destroyed the targets.

"That was impressive, both of you!" congratulated Ridge. "Your experiences from those battles must've really paid off." They spent the next few hours training on attack combos and boosting the power and aim of the attacks. After a while, it was beginning to become nighttime.

"We should head back. You both look exhausted and could use a rest. Besides, it's almost nighttime and I can barely see," Ridge suggested.

"Yeah, we should. We should also take baths because I don't want to feel dirty," said Salle, Allie and Ridge agreeing. First they visited the local pokemon center to recover, then they checked into a nearby inn to stay for the night. There were separate showers for humans and pokemon, so Ridge had his own shower as did the pokemon.

"That had to be the most relaxing shower I've ever had," complimented Allie. Both Salle and Ridge nodded in agreement. After the showers, it was now completely nighttime. Ridge, in his new orange shirt and blue jeans, began to look out the window, his mind full of thoughts.

'What did the Ninetales mean when she said that something may happen to me during that battle? Could it be that I will remember everything? I still refuse to take the easy way out. I'll stay by Salle and Allie's side, no matter what. Once all my memories of Salle return, we can live a happy life again,' Ridge thought to himself. Through this reassurance, he went to his bed to sleep and ponder what could happen. The two Floatzels shared the other bed as usual.


	3. The True Epilogue

When the trio woke up the next morning, they decided to freshen up, clean up, and check out of the inn.

"Where should we search again, Ridge?" Salle asked.

"The outskirts or outside of Celestic town," reminded Ridge. With no further questions, the trio began their search, careful to avoid the other sleeping pokemon and trainers to conserve their energy. They decided not to split up for fear of being picked off by the probably-awake Ninetales. Some of the wild pokemon were awake and challenged them to a battle, only to end up being quickly disposed of by Allie and Salle's attacks. Eventually, the trio reached a clearing near the river. Exhausted from their search, the group decided to take a rest.

"I wonder if this isn't the area where we can find the other part of my memory that the other Ninetales has," Ridge said, beginning to doubt what the Ninetales in his dreams had told him.

"I think it is. Maybe we haven't searched hard enough," Allie said while floating in the water. As she continued to float along the water. By the time Ridge had set up the camp, it was mid-afternoon. The two pokemon had come back from their swim to rest up. This time Ridge had actually brought some caught fish with him, and started a fire (but not without some trouble) to cook them. As the three were enjoying the fish, Ridge spoke up.

"Are you two sure you're willing to battle for all of my memories?" he asked. In response, both Floatzels began to nuzzle him in his face, to his slight discomfort.

'I wonder if this is part of his new nature and the fact that we are friends,' Ridge thought. Because they were still on him, they began to lick him all over his face. 'Okay, that's definitely his new instincts.' Ridge thought, nearly disgusted. "Alright alright, please get off of me," he begged. This time they hesitated, and then got off of him.

"Do you both like me?" Ridge asked, knowing the answer already.

"Of course we do! You're our friend. We're just glad that you were okay all this time," replied Salle, Allie nodding in agreement. This made Ridge blush from the flattery.

"W-w-wow, thanks for that then," he responded, trying to recover from the shock of the actions and the words. "…Well then, we should continue our search. I want to remember everything as soon as possible," Ridge stated after a while. "I…also have a question to ask both of you. When I get my memory back, should I continue to be a trainer and keep you two?" he asked seriously. Immediately the Floatzels answered yes to this.

"We want to be together, but with you with us as well," Salle answered sincerely. After this, Ridge was silent as the trio continued their search.

Later on, the trio had gone deep into the forests in hopes of finding it, but they were getting lost. They could not go back because Ridge somehow felt that they were on the right trail. After persevering through the rapidly darkening forest, the trio came to another clearing. What they saw immediately disposed of their tiredness.

They saw a Ninetales. And it had seen them. This time it stood at the correct height.

"Are you Ridge, the boy who stupidly lost his memory to my mother?" he asked, almost angrily.

"Yes I am. I felt terribly awful about all of this, and I promised everyone, even your mother, that I would make amends for my foolish behavior. I might not be able to help my friend, but I know that he will still help me," Ridge responded sincerely. "It is said that if I find you and ask for my memory, it should return to me. So please, I beg of you. May I please have my memory back? And if not, what must I do to get it?" he pleaded. Because of what he said, Ninetales took some time to decide whether or not it should all be given back.

"…You must first defeat and capture me. Treat me like you would a wild pokemon, which I am," he responded. Ridge accepted the challenge too quickly. "If you had listened more, you would have heard me also say that YOU would have to battle me. For this battle only, you will gain up to six attacks from your pokemon. Your pokemon must watch from the sidelines. Be warned that if you fail, you will be transformed into a pokemon and you and your pokemon will lose all memories of each other," he explained, making Ridge worry. He glanced toward his pokemon and was greeted with reassuring faces of faith.

"….I…still accept your challenge. My friends trust me, and I trust them. I won't fail," Ridge decided, confidence returning.

"Very well then. Think about your attacks, but once you choose it, you're stuck with it."

The attacks Ridge chose were: Brine, Ice Beam, Swift, Double Team, and Aqua Jet.

"I've made my choices and I am ready. Are you?" Ridge asked.

"Yes. Let's begin," responded Ninetales. Ridge began the battle by charging forward, focusing on water surrounding him. It barely hit Ninetales since he dodged the attack.

'So that's how it feels to use an attack,' Ridge thought, trying to shake off the shock. This left him open, since Ninetales was able to hit him with a Flamethrower attack. Ridge winced as he got up from the flames. The burn was beginning to cause him pain.

'I've got to fight back unless I want a destroyed life…' he thought, determined to win. He focused on shooting ice stars and used Ice Swift, followed by Brine and Double Team. Ninetales yelped in pain from the attacks as he was surrounded by Ridge copies.

'You won't fool me!" he cried, and used Fire Spin to try to hit Ridge. Ridge could not evade since the burning pain was slowing him down. He cried out in pain as he was knocked to a tree and ended up kneeling to recover. He was beginning to breathe rapidly and got up to use his last efforts. Using Double Team, he combined that with Brine and made Whirlpool. He then used Swift and Aqua Jet in a last attempt to defeat Ninetales. This series of attacks trapped Ninetales and ended up dealing massive damage to him, which overwhelmed him and caused him to faint. Ridge, seeing this, used the last of his energy to throw a poke ball at Ninetales to capture him. He was captured after a few agonizing seconds for Ridge. He smiled as he blacked out, glad that he hadn't let his friends down and that he had recovered all of his memories of Salle.

When he came to, he found out that he was resting on a bed in the pokemon center.

"Hmmm…! How did I get here? I last remember the Ninetales fight…and then I blacked out," he said to himself. As he tried to move, he noticed that he was wearing bandages and there was a slight pain.

"Don't move, please. You still need to rest. I overheard you murmuring in your sleep, so there's no need to explain," explained the nearby nurse. "Apparently, you were carried here by your two loyal pokemon, who only appear to have minor injuries. You were out for nine hours. Thankfully, you didn't sustain any fatal injuries."

"How long until I can leave?"

"About one hour. All of your pokemon are fully recovered, so no need to worry about them. If you're wondering, it's night right now. I can bring your pokemon to you and leave you alone with them, if you'd like that," she offered.

"You are really nice. That'd be fine, ma'am," said Ridge. A minute later, she reentered the room with two pokemon following her and one in the poke ball, which she opened, releasing Ninetales. She then left them to themselves.

"…I'm glad to see that you are still alive and well," Ninetales said. "I had no intention of causing you physical harm, but I felt it necessary. Do you understand?"

"Yes. It's good to see that you're not permanently hurt, too. I'm sorry for what happened in the past, I hope you've found it in your heart to forgive me," Ridge stated. "I'm also sorry to the two of you for the great risks I took," he added sincerely. There was silence in the room for a minute. Then, all three pokemon jumped towards him and nuzzled him and licked him as their way of saying that everything was alright. This time, he didn't ask them to get off.

"It's alright, Ridge. I didn't really want to fight you, but I felt it absolutely necessary as I said before. You have all of your memories of your friend back, and I asked you to capture me because I decided that maybe you did change for the better. Your battle proved to me that your change of heart was permanent," Ninetales said. "Had you still had your old personality, you would have lost instantly. My new life may very well be one full of a few twists, but I'll endure them, because you wouldn't allow mistreatment." At this, Ridge was at a loss for words. He had fixed everything, and gained many things in the process.

"…As soon as I get out of here, I promise to help all of you in everything that troubles you," Ridge promised, making the pokemon nuzzle him to the point of nearly hurting him.

_That's the true ending! If you don't understand, it's because you may not have read The Fortune Teller's Curse. This story is officially finished.  
Should I do any of those M-rated things? _**Time to answer: 1...0**

Final decision: Pass it on to someone with the guts to do it.

_Hope this wasn't a waist of your time. Please tell me what you think._


End file.
